U2‘s Bono was joined by fellow Irish singer Imelda May on Christmas Eve when they took part in a modern holiday tradition. The vocalists hit Grafton Street in Dublin just before the holiday to take part in the 15th annual round of busking to raise funds for local charities.
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With hundreds of shivering fans gathered around the Gaiety Theatre in the Dublin city center, Bono and May took to a makeshift stage alongside a live band to perform Darlene Love’s 1963 holiday classic, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” After making a stop at a microphone that appeared to be on the fritz, Bono and May gathered around the same mic, with the U2 singer taking the first part of the verse and then stepping back as May belted, “They’re singing Deck the Halls/ But it’s not like Christmas at all.”
This year’s busking raised funds for the Dublin Simon Community, a charity supporting those at risk for homelessness in Ireland in the latest edition of the event that began in 2010 with an impromptu sing-along on Grafton Street.
According to NME, Bono and May were joined by Oscar-winning singer-songwriter and event organizer Glen Hansard, as well as The Script’s Danny O’Donoghue, the Riptide Movement and Danny O’Reilly of the Coronas and Shobsy, with a set-closing run through the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s holiday favorite “Fairytale of New York.”
In previous years Bono has performed with his bandmate guitarist The Edge at the busking fundraiser, including in 2018, when they played two Christmas carols, “O Holy Night” and “Night Divine” before joining the rest of that year’s performers for Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”
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